Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Winnipeg Free Press this morning is saying Iggo Waffle has egg on his face. Why? Well the Waffle made a comment when asked a question on the weekend when he was in Winnipeg campaigning for the Liberal candidate for the by-election later this month. He accuses the CPC of playing games? because there is a candidate of Filipino decent running in the riding of Winnipeg North in the by-election to be held later this month? What? The riding does have a large Filipino population and is traditionally held by NDP. The Waffle also claims CPC candidate Filipino Julie Javier is a fake candidate and will split the vote hurting Liberal's chances. Well boo, hoo, hoo!

Does anyone know what Michael Ignatieff is talking about?

The Liberal leader was in Winnipeg on the weekend campaigning for Winnipeg North candidate Kevin Lamoureux when he accused the Conservatives of fighting dirty by running a Filipino candidate in the riding.Voters, he said, deserved "a straight-up fight" and not "a bunch of games." He was apparently referring to speculation that the Tories were trying to weaken Mr. Lamoureux's support by running Filipino Julie Javier in a riding that traditionally supports the New Democratic Party and which has a high number of Filipino residents.Once again, does anyone know what Mr. Ignatieff is talking about? Is he really suggesting that the Conservatives should have fielded a non-Filipino candidate to make it a fair fight for the Liberal contender? Is it his view that Ms. Javier is a fake candidate who has cynically offered her name to spoil Liberal ambitions and ensure an NDP victory?Mr. Ignatieff's comments were an insult to voters in general and Filipinos in particular. To be fair, it doesn't look like he anticipated the question, but the leader of an institution like the Liberal Party of Canada should be smarter on his feet. In the big leagues, you're only allowed so many stupid mistakes.

Insult to voters? You bet! Does the CPC not have a right to run a candidate of any nationality if based on merit? I have news for the Waffle, this is not kindergarten! This is the big leagues!
Good luck to CPC candidate Julie Javier and may the best candidate win!